Born in Houston, Texas, he played professional football as a receiver for the Houston Oilers (1980) and the New York Jets (1981) and started an acting and writing career in the late '80s. In 1987 he portrayed a soldier in the action drama Deadly Prey. Clay wrote the five books Black Eye on America, Walking with the Power, Only for a Season, Katy Nation, and Click Send for Love, a story for a television pilot ("Life's a stretch" in 2003, which he also produced), and became the executive director of the NHP (a national homeless organization) until his move back to Houston, Texas.

Clay later worked as a filmmaker behind the camera and as director, writer and producer for the sport drama First Quarter (2015).

On 26 August 2017, Clay died following a battle with cancer at the age of 61. [1]